What Has Government Done to Our Money?

Confused about how the Federal Reserve works, or why we need it? Can't figure out what causes inflation? Does the whole financial crisis have you baffled? This is a great place to start working through the muck. If you don't read anything else, read the section on money warehouses, though the whole book is worth a read.

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Кратко и простым языком изложенная теория денег. Вполне может использоваться в качестве учебника. Жаль что анализ взаимодействия денег и государства заканчивается на 70-х годах.<br />У аудиокниги на удивление отличный чтец - Артем Логинов. Часто бывает сложно слушать нон-фикшн, но у него получается донести все содержание до мозга.

What Has the Government Done to Our Money directly assaults the fraudulent monetary system of fiat currency and reaffirms the sustainability in economic growth of free market currency based on an commodity such as gold and silver. Murray Rothbard briefly confutes the delusional enchantment of the impregnable system of fiat currency by issuing inflation as the most devastating phenomenon in monetary economics.<br />Inflation is the debasing of a currency by creating money out of thin air, which means the purchasing power is decreased due to the increase in the money supply. Inflation generates illusory profits and distorts calculation of business, so free markets are unable to reward efficiency and penalize inefficiency. “The general atmosphere of a sellers’ market will lead to a decline in quality of goods and of service to consumers since consumers often resist price increases less when they occur in form of downgrading of quality.” Not only does inflation destroy business, but the compulsory monopoly of mint in the control of the money supply by central banks destroys free markets even in monetary terms. Central banks are responsible for inflation, for it removes all checks on inflation as well as direct inflation. <br />Overall, Rothbard is a true inspiration of brilliance in the field of economics where he can deliver a concise explanation of the government transgressions into the market and the incessant yet futile attempt to control economic activity through manipulating the currency. It is an absolute blast to read Rothbard every time.

Gostaria de ter lido este livro há mais tempo, uns três anos atrás. Certamente teria direcionado melhor minhas leituras, meus aprendizados e estudos em economia. Excelente livro, engana pelo número de páginas. Muito denso, muita coisa para entender. Muito bem escrito e organizado. Recomendo demais.

Dr. Rothbard left us in 1995, and wrote the first edition of "What Has Government Done to our Money" in 1964, but he is still the clearest voice on economic policy today -- more than David Stockman. In 2014, Jim Grant of "Grant's Interest Rate Observer" may be the only financial journalist that comes close to the pristine prose of Murray Rothbard. I originally read this book four years ago, and it is just as clear this time around. I wish I had his clarity.<br /><br />This fourth edition, like his previous editions, de-bamboozles the public's understanding of central banking and banking on the free-market. Interestingly, with each passing addition some monetary period came and went. In 1964, The United States had yet to de-link the U.S. dollar from gold completely. But by this last edition, which is still pre-European Union and pre-Euro, the dollar had become a completely fiat currency. He also talked about our current state of fluctuating fiat currencies, which the author believes, like every other monetary fix, will not last; and, if central banks attempt to make it last it will only give us inflation in the long-run which will be of no benefit to anyone.<br /><br />If you have never read a book on economics or monetary policy, make this your first one.

Very disappointing. I had previously read <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/6388946.End_the_Fed" title="End the Fed by Ron Paul" rel="noopener">End the Fed</a> and found that to be a truly awful book. I expected that a book by an actual economic professor would be much better. And, yes this book is definitely better. Still, it wasn't a very good defense of the gold standard. The usual narrative by mainstream economists is that the rise of the quantity theory of money is what killed the gold standard. Not only is this not discussed at all in the book, one gets the distinct impression that either Rothbard has never heard of, or worse, dismisses the quantity theory of money. At one point he says, "[D]eflation can only take place after a previous inflation; only pseudo-receipts, not gold coins, can be retired and liquidated." This debunked idea is one of false ones that economist Allan Melzer in his iconic history of the Federal Reserve blames the Fed for following in their failure to deal properly with the Great Depression.

Um livro definitivo sobre como funciona o sistema monetário.<br /><br />Nesta obra espetacular, o economista "austríaco" Murray Rothbard detalha de maneira extraordinariamente didática a história do dinheiro como meio de troca, desde os tempos do escambo até os anos 80.<br /><br />Em um trabalho de pesquisa minucioso e repleto de referências históricas, o autor expõe como o intervencionismo estatal foi (e continua sendo) capaz de causar distúrbios seríssimos sobre o mercado financeiro.<br /><br />O posfácio de <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/8145328.Fernando_Ulrich" title="Fernando Ulrich" rel="noopener">Fernando Ulrich</a> busca completar a obra de Rothbard com a análise das crises financeiras mais recentes, entre os anos 90 até os dias de hoje, e atinge o objetivo com um belo resumo sobre o momento atual do mercado financeiro mundial.

An exposition of the gold standard, and the history of banks in the United States. Just like in his <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/81984.A_History_of_Money_and_Banking_in_the_United_States_The_Colonial_Era_to_World_War_II" title="A History of Money and Banking in the United States The Colonial Era to World War II by Murray N. Rothbard" rel="noopener">A History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II</a>, Rothbard gives us a very detailed history, sometimes it feel synchronized to be life-paced, of how the world got off the gold-standard.<br /><br />I honestly enjoyed the first half of the book much more, since it was loaded with economic theory. I will follow up with his <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/31626036.The_Case_for_a_100_Percent_Gold_Dollar" title="The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard" rel="noopener">The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar</a>.

Livro sensacional. Ajuda a entender a natureza do dinheiro, funcionamento e história, além das intervenções do governo sobre ele. Definitivamente, é uma obra indispensável.